Conventional remote controls are used to control individual items of equipment or are designed as so-called universal remote controls for controlling a plurality of different items of equipment. Although such remote controls have a multiplicity of control options, in principle any user or users can access the entire range of usage. In most cases, a personalized user profile can be accessed only by entering suitable passwords, PIN codes, or the like.
Remote controls with sensor systems for establishing, managing, and enabling personalized user profiles are also known in the prior art, however. Such remote controls have one or multiple sensors for detecting biometric data or information of a specific individual, which is why they are described as biometric sensors.
The printed publications U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,098 B1 and US 2003/0172283 A1 disclose a biometric remote control that ensures the authentication of a user based on biometric information or data, which are detected by means of suitable sensors, wherein a fingerprint, the speech pattern, the retina, or the face of a user are given as individualizing features of a user. A comparable remote control is described in the printed specification WO 2011/112727 A2, wherein optical scanners as well as those for detecting a fingerprint, a retina image, a face, a DNA or a speech pattern, as well as receivers for electromagnetic signals, means for electrical measurement, and microphones are mentioned as exemplary biometric sensors.
The remote controls disclosed in the aforementioned prior art are described in detail in terms of their design and their general function, although the selection and implementation of suitable biometric sensors is explained only in terms of functionality and no definite statements regarding practicability of the proposed sensor systems are made.